Conventional techniques of discovering network devices and respective network topology have advanced over the years. For example, the SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is an application—layer protocol for exchanging management information between network devices. It is a part of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) protocol suite.
In general, SNMP is a widely implemented protocol to manage and monitor network elements. An SNMP agent is a program that is packaged within a network element. The SNMP agent performs operations such as collecting management information about its local environment, storing and retrieving management information, signaling events to a corresponding manager, etc.